(雙語)月亮和六便士 第47章(5)

00:00

00:00

MP3下載

https://online2.tingclass.net/lesson/shi0529/10000/10334/ylhlbs158.mp3

https://image.tingclass.net/statics/js/2012

"I've tasted worse smoking mixtures in a pipe," he added, with a philosophic shrug of his shoulders, as he took a couple of cigars from the case I offered him, putting one in his mouth and the other in his pocket.

“我的煙斗就是比這更不是味兒的雜八湊煙也抽過，”他加添了一句，自我解嘲地聳了聳肩膀。在他說這句話的時候又從我遞過去的煙盒里拿了兩支雪茄，一支銜在嘴上，一支揣在口袋里。

Now and then they made a bit of money. Sometimes a mail steamer would come in, and Captain Nichols, having scraped acquaintance with the timekeeper, would succeed in getting the pair of them a job as stevedores. When it was an English boat, they would dodge into the forecastle and get a hearty breakfast from the crew. They took the risk of running against one of the ship's officers and being hustled down the gangway with the toe of a boot to speed their going.

偶然他們也有機(jī)會掙到一點兒錢。有時候一艘郵輪開進(jìn)港，尼柯爾斯船長同雇用計時員攀上交情，會給兩人找個臨時裝卸工的活兒。如果是一艘英國船，他們會溜進(jìn)前甲板下面的艙房里，在水手那里飽餐一頓。當(dāng)然，這樣做要冒一定的風(fēng)險，如果遇見船上的高級船員，他們就要從跳板上被趕下來，為了催他們動作快一些，屁股后面還要挨一靴子。

"There's no harm in a kick in the hindquarters when your belly's full," said Captain Nichols, "and personally I never take it in bad part. An officer's got to think about discipline."

“一個人只要肚子吃飽，屁股叫人踢一腳算不得什么，”尼柯爾斯船長說，“拿我個人說，我是從來不生氣的。高級船員理應(yīng)考慮船上的風(fēng)紀(jì)的?！?/p>

I had a lively picture of Captain Nichols flying headlong down a narrow gangway before the uplifted foot of an angry mate, and, like a true Englishman, rejoicing in the spirit of the Mercantile Marine.

我的腦子里活生生地出現(xiàn)一幅圖畫：一個氣沖沖的大副飛起一腳，尼柯爾斯船長腦袋朝下地從窄窄的跳板上滾下來；象一個真正的英國人那樣，他對英國商船隊的這種紀(jì)律嚴(yán)明的精神非常高興。

There were often odd jobs to be got about the fish-market. Once they each of them earned a franc by loading trucks with innumerable boxes of oranges that had been dumped down on the quay. One day they had a stroke of luck: one of the boarding-masters got a contract to paint a tramp that had come in from Madagascar round the Cape of Good Hope, and they spent several days on a plank hanging over the side, covering the rusty hull with paint. It was a situation that must have appealed to Strickland's sardonic humour. I asked Captain Nichols how he bore himself during these hardships.

在魚市場里也不時能夠找點零活兒干。還有一次，卡車要把堆在碼頭上的許多筐桔子運走，思特里克蘭德同尼柯爾斯船長幫助裝車，每人掙了一法郎。有一天兩人很走運：一條從馬達(dá)加斯加繞過好望角開來的貨輪需要上油漆，一個開寄宿店的老板弄到包工合同，他們兩個人一連幾天站在懸在船幫旁邊的一條木板上，往銹跡斑斑的船殼上涂油漆。這件差事肯定很投合思特里克蘭德的慣受諷嘲的脾氣。我向尼柯爾斯船長打聽，在那困頓的日子里，思特里克蘭德有什么反應(yīng)。

"Never knew him say a cross word," answered the Captain. "He'd be a bit surly sometimes, but when we hadn't had a bite since morning, and we hadn't even got the price of a lie down at the Chink's, he'd be as lively as a cricket."

“從來沒聽他說過一句喪氣話，”船長回答說，“有時候他有點兒悶悶不樂，但是就是在我們整天吃不到一口飯，連在中國佬那里歇宿的房錢都弄不到手的時候，他仍然象蛐蛐一樣歡蹦亂跳?！?/p>

I was not surprised at this. Strickland was just the man to rise superior to circumstances, when they were such as to occasion despondency in most; but whether this was due to equanimity of soul or to contradictoriness it would be difficult to say.

我對此并不覺得驚奇。思特里克蘭德正是超然于周圍環(huán)境之外的人，就是在最沮喪的情況下也是如此。這到底是由于心靈的寧靜還是矛盾對立，那是難以說清的。